North Indian Inscriptions

SRAVANA-BELGOLA EPITAPH OF MALLISHENA.

endowed with faultless¹ excellence, a mass of great splendour, the ornament of the heads of kings, through the mere smell of the medicine of whose good words, men were made to attain the condition which is devoid of decay.

......(V. 54.) I worship thee, O Ajitasêna ! who art another sun on earth in dispelling the mass of darkness in the heart, who art eagerly worshipped day by day by those who know the science of Scepticism (Syâdvâda), (and) through whose contact the lotus of the mind of those who devoutly bow (before thee), shakes off the burden of sleep (and) becomes the abode of wide expansion (or knowledge).

......(V. 55.) Avoid the ornament of false speech ! Give up haughtiness ! Profess Scepticism (Syâdvâda) ! Modesty bow before Vâdîbhakaṇṭhîrava !² If not, you will be perplexed by fear at the hearing of the loud roar of him, by whom the elephants, (viz.) the disputants, are quickly precipitated into the pit of the ruined well of refutation.

......(V. 56.) Of which praise is he not worthy, the lord of ascetics, Ajitasêna ? (His) virtues successfully rival the glitter of the jasmine ; (his) voice wafts nectar ; (his) fame appears to be as charming in gracefully floating, as the plava (duck) ; (and) the splendour of the moon-like nails of (his) feet is desired by a crowd of kings, as by chakôra (birds).

......(V. 57.) Resplendent is Ajitasêna, (alias) Vâdîbhasiṁha,³ the head of a school (gaṇabhṛit), who split the temples of all the mast mighty elephants, (viz.) the disputants, (and) whose lotus-feet were kissed by the tops of the glittering diadems, on the bowing heads of all kings.

......(Line 165.) NOTE.— The following words of his own indicate the intensity of his indifference to the world :―

......(V. 58.) “(I) have entered the holy religion of Jina (Jina-śâsana), which is difficult to be obtained by (all) living beings in the three worlds, which resembles a support for the hands of men who are immersed in the ocean of the world, (and) the adherents of which are adorned by the glory of complete knowledge that is regardless of other (knowledge). Therefore, what is difficult (for me)? Of what (should I be) afraid ? Or, what pleasure (have I) in this body ?

......(V. 59.) “Now (I) know that the sovereignty of the soul has the form of infinite know- ledge, etc. In order to obtain that (sovereignty), this (my) mind is intent on this (knowledge) alone in accordance with the doctrine. (I have) given up the desire for other happiness, (viz.) that of a lord of gods, and that of an emperor. Therefore, enough, enough of the ways of the world, the purpose of which is idle, (and) which attract the ignorant !

......(V. 60.) “Let one strive (in vain), whose mind is polluted by external love and hatred, (and) who does not know that the soul has for its body the knowledge of all objects, (and) that his own mind (must be) constantly tranquil, in order to become the instrument of that (knowledge) ! How (could) one who knows this (soul), even for a moment strive for anything but that (knowledge) ?”

......(Line 174.) NOTE.― The following description of the eminence of the vast scholarship of his two disciples, the Paṇḍitas Śântinâtha and Padmanâbha, whose other names were Kavitâkânta and Vâdikôlâhala (respectively), is (still) incomplete :―

......(V. 61.) “O holy Kântaśânti, whose fame rose without interval in all directions ! Even Sarasvatî is not able to describe that lovely abundance of skill in speech, which (men)
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......[The word kshûṇa, ‘fault, defect,’ is peculiar to the Jaina Sanskṛit. Its etymology is obscure. The Prâkṛit form khûṇa occurs in Professor Jacobi’s Ausgewӓhlte Erzӓhlungen in Mâhârâshṭrî, p. 105 of the Glossary.― E. L.]
......² i.e. ‘the lion to the elephants, (viz.) the disputants.’ This was a biruda of Ajitasêna ; see verse 57.
......³ See the preceding note.